Civic

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities At a time when diesel and petrol prices have gone through the roof, a certain ambiguity prevails among many vehicle owners and operators in Chennai. They mull over more economical options, and one auto rickshaw driver sums it up saying, “Anything that is not as expensive as petrol and diesel would help us make some profit.” While street-side discussions focus mostly on the cost aspect, an equally pertinent and critical angle is that of pollution. According to 'The Urban Commute And How It Contributes to Pollution and…

பல்லவபுர நகராட்சியின் கீழுள்ள 42 வார்டுகளில் கடந்த மூன்று வாரங்களாக பல சுகாதார சீர்கேடுகள் நடைப்பெற்று வருகிறது. நகராட்சியின் பல பகுதிகளில் கடந்த சில மாதங்களாகவே குப்பைகளை சரியாக அப்புறப்படுத்தாமலும், குப்பைகளை முறையாக மேலாண்மை செய்யாமலும் அதிகாரிகள் தவிர்த்து வருகின்றனர். பல தெருக்களில் வீட்டுக்கு வந்து குப்பைகளை சேகரிப்பது முன்னறிவிப்பின்றி நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. பல இடங்களில் எப்போதுமிருக்கும் குப்பைத்தொட்டிகள் அகற்றப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதனால் பலரும் குப்பைத்தொட்டி இருந்த இடங்களில் எப்போதும் போல குப்பையை கொட்டி வருகின்றனர் அதை சரிவரக் கையாளாததால் சாலைகளில் பறந்தும் சுற்றுப் பகுதிகளில் துர்நாற்றம் வீசியும் சுகாதார சீர்கேட்டுக்கு வித்திடுகிறது.பல தெருக்களில் தொடர்ந்து குப்பைகள் தீயிட்டு கொளுத்தப்பட்டு வ௫கிறது. இதை பற்றி சுகாதார அதிகாரியான (Sanitary Officer) தி௫ செல்வராஜ் அவர்களிடம் பல முறை புகார் அளித்த போதும், செய்கிறேன், பார்கிறேன் என்ற பதில் மட்டுமே அவரிடமிருந்து வ௫கிறது ஆனால் நடைமுறையில் எந்த மாற்றத்தையும் காண முடியவில்லை. இச்சூழலுக்கு காரணம் பல்லவபுர…

Chennai's woes with footpaths have been a recurring irritant in recent months. From protests against political parties that claim footpaths to erect their banners, to citizen complaints of newly laid footpaths being unserviceable due to design flaws and encroachments -- there is a chorus of voices sounding a clear demand for better facilities for pedestrians. Pavements across the city suffer from poor design, inconvenient placement of street furniture, street vendor stalls that block access, broken tiles, dumping of debris and overflowing garbage. This leaves little room for those who commute on foot to navigate the city's streets safely. Take a look at…

Supreme Court imposes partial cracker ban ahead of Diwali A PIL against the bursting of firecrackers during Diwali has led to restrictions imposed by the apex court on the type of crackers allowed and the time frame during which they may be used. The SC verdict has specified the time during which crackers can be burst, restricting the window to between 8 pm and 10 pm. A ban has also been imposed on ladis or series crackers. Only the sale of green crackers that are less polluting and less harmful to the environment are permitted. The court also restricted the sale of…

Rising cases of dengue in the city With the onset of monsoon, it is not only the bad roads that have been cause for worry but health woes too. Chennai has been recording a steady rise in the number of dengue cases. According to Health Minister Vijayabhaskar the government has already set up fever clinics at government hospitals that function round the clock. Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and the Institute of Child Health have 8 dengue cases each under treatment. The directorate of public health has recorded a spike in fever cases in the districts of Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur…

On Saturday, October 27th, the city will be witness to yet another human chain, organised this time by the disgruntled citizens of Bellandur, one of the largest wards of Bengaluru with a tax collection of Rs 220 crore. The residents of the ward seek to highlight their issues and put forth their demands to make Bellandur livable. Residents point to the serious discrepancy of funds and infrastructure for the ward by all standards. As per the BBMP Budgetary expenditure (Source: Janaagraha), Bellandur (27 sq km) has got an allocation of Rs 6-7 crore in the annual budget. Considering the parameters…

Mani C (name changed), a 16-year-old resident of Ambal Nagar, Chennai is irregular to school, but he regularly visits the TASMAC outlet on Jawaharlal Nehru Road as soon as the shutters are raised at 12 noon. His peers and acquaintances have dropped out of school, having taken to the liquor bottle even earlier. If his mother berates him for choosing the wrong path, he says, “I am just doing what Appa (father) does.” The mother runs out of words to convince him. Mani started revolting when he was 14. It was yet another day when his father had beaten him…

ITO skywalk re-ignites Delhi-Centre tussle The latest battle ground between the Union government and Delhi is the newly inaugurated 400-metre ITO skywalk in Central Delhi. The skywalk was opened to the public by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri last week. In his inaugural address he accused the Delhi state government for delaying the project by stalling the 20% contribution from the state for the project for over a year. The Rs 54.84-crore project was conceptualised as one that would be completed with 80% funding from the centre and the remaining from the state. The Delhi government in turn has accused…

In a city like Chennai where public transportation is not really optimal in terms of supporting last mile connectivity, share autos are the cheapest and easiest option and have naturally emerged as the common man’s preferred mode of transport. But the advantages of this intermediate public transport or para transit cannot override the range of problems faced by commuters and even share auto drivers themselves. In Part 1 of the series on share autos, we discussed why share autos are necessary, especially in view of the demand surplus that crowded MTC buses are not able to meet. But commuters list…

It was among the first PILs that was filed by the Citizens' Action Forum and it wasn’t even their first course of action! For a group that is often accused of being trigger-happy with the judiciary, CAF's petition against the Master Plan 2015 was a last recourse, after they had exhausted all other options.   When the BDA released the draft of its Master Plan 2015, it proposed rapid commercialisation of largely residential areas in Bangalore, allowing for almost unchecked change of land use. Bangalore had begun to boom by the start of the millennium. The rise of the IT…